Second Person Shooter Zato is a unique kind of action game that flips everything you know about shooters on its head before turning it inside-out and looking at it through a mirror. Well, that sounds like it would cancel the weirdness out, but it doesn't! In this game, you control a gun-toting hero who is being attacked by groups of enemies. However, instead of getting a first-person view of the action, you can only see yourself through the eyes of the enemy. Spin around, fire your weapons, and hope you can survive without looking at the world from behind your own gun!

At the game's outset, developer himo describes Second Person Shooter Zato quite elegantly: camera = enemy. If you can see yourself, shoot the screen, it really is that simple. Hold the [right] arrow key to rotate clockwise (as viewed from above) and [left] to spin the opposite direction. Hit [x] to fire a missile, [z] to shoot your standard beam. The controls are persistent no matter the point of view, and even when multiple enemies (and thus multiple camera views) are active, you'll find you're able to spin and shoot with the greatest of ease.

Your weapons aren't infinite, so forget about spamming the [z] and [x] keys and calling it a day. Each one has a limited clip size, but ammo automatically regenerates after a few seconds. It's best to reserve the more powerful missile for stronger enemies or foes who are uncomfortably close. You can also alternate weapons to ensure they both stay charged. Either way, if you're out of ammo, you're vulnerable, and that's bad.

To further awesome-ify things, new enemies are introduced in almost every level, each one more intriguing than the last. The first few are simple variations on the basic concepts (faster, stronger, etc.), but then you get foes that drop from the sky, shielded enemies, and even enemies stacked in a tower! To top that off, the levels you'll unlock in often have different abilities you can use, such as being able to move around the screen, or challenges to complete, like missile-only combat.

Second Person Shooter Zato isn't your normal sort of game, which is exactly why we love it. The concept is pulled off with a lot of finesse, and the sense of progression you get after unlocking new levels, abilities, and enemies keeps you very much interested in pushing through to the next stage. The multiple camera views are sometimes confusing, and it's easy to get caught in a pinch when enemies have surrounded you, spinning rampantly trying to find the nearest baddie to shoot. But practice makes perfect, and soon enough you'll master the art of shooting cameras that are closing in!

19 Comments

Did you ask the developer for permission before you put his game up here? Japanese devs in general tend to take very much offense when their games are lifted from other websites without permission.

[Yes, of course I contacted the developer, Himo, for permission before hosting the game here. I always make an effort to do so, so please don't worry about that on our behalf. I've got that side of things covered. Thank you very much. -Jay]

The shield guys will eventually drop their shield and stand still. That's your chance. The shield will flicker a few times before it drops, and you can sneak a beam in if you're lucky, but it's best to wait for them to totally drop it and deliver a missile.

The Numbers boss is really annoying. It starts out simple enough, but then they drop the visibility to zero, so you have to wait until they're right on top of you before you can shoot.

Tower (first seen 1-5). Takes 3x2 laser hits. A 3-story tower that loses one story at a time. The camera is placed on the topmost story. It falls as the tower loses stories.
NOTE: if you fire too quickly at the Tower, your shots may go through the monster as the stories fall!

Shield (first seen 2-1). Takes 3 laser hits.
This monster has a pink shield covering it, causing shots to deflect. The pink shield periodically disables, which is preceded by a flashing of the shield.
NOTE: If you were unable to fire at the Shield monster in that shield disabling timing window, you can alternatively

Oddsight (first seen 2-2). Takes 3 laser hits.
The vision of this monster will be rotated 90, 180 (?), or 270 degrees.

Warp (first seen 2-3). Takes 3 laser hits.
Periodically warps to a random angle, while maintaining the distance it was before.

Blind (first seen 2-4). Takes 3 laser hits.
No camera. You have to observe where this enemy's location is from a different enemy's PoV.

Bird (first seen 2-5). Takes 1 laser hit.
Flies around player for a while, then swoops in. Fast movement while on land.

TowerKing (first seen 2-6). Takes 30x2 laser hits.
Same as Tower, but with a lot more floors. It moves EXTREMELY SLOWLY. Though, interestingly, if you focus on the TowerKing's perspective for the first 2/3rds of the game, the game becomes a 3PS.

Zombie (first seen 3-1). Takes 2x3 laser hits.
Spawns looking at the sky. After the first death, it falls down, and after a while, it climbs back up and walks towards you again. I believe it's faster movement the second time around.
NOTE: if you try to hit it as it is climbing back up, the zombie will neutralize the shots, so don't do that.

SlowDown (first seen 3-2). Takes 1 laser hit.
Emits green particles. Fast movement. If it hits you, you do not lose a life. Instead, your rotational and movement speeds are decreased quite drastically.

Spin (first seen 3-3). Takes 3 laser hits.
Like OddSight, but the camera is constantly spinning.

Drop: drops straight down.
Crabwalk: Nautilus-style, circling towards you.
Fast: fast.
Afro: I lol'ed. Part of there "eyes" are covered; that's how you know its them. Take 2 missles to down.
Tower: 3 normals, 1 on top of another.
Shield: wait for the shield to flicker 3 times, then it drops.
OddSight: heads at you either on its side or upside down.
Big: big. Takes a few hits.
Warp: warps around every few seconds.
Blind: No view. Use the other views to find him.
Bird: Like drop, but circles around a bit before heading at you quickly.
Boss: TowerKing: he's really tall. Just keep knocking him down.
Zombie: gotta kill him twice.
Slowdown: If he hits you, he'll slow down your movements.
Spin: spirals in as he heads at you.
Blackhole: will suck any missles shot to him. Only lasers will hurt him.
Birdking: like other birds, just more health.
Beamwall: Invincible to lasers, only a missle can kill him.
Sidestep: keeps dodging side to side.
Light: This level is completely dark: they keep the room lit. Keep them alive to make it a little easier.
Boss Numbers: Kill the 3 tiles in order, 1-2-3. Visibility gets worse as his health gets lower.
Phantom: Invincible; you must shoot the floating red cube to his side.
Girl: don't shoot her!
LastBoss: this one shoots back! shoot the yellow balls and missles he shoots at you. Save your missles for him; he warps after each hit. After a few hits, he puts up a beamwall, so you can only hit him with missles.

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